The present invention relates to apparatus for supporting and stabilizing implements used to make marks on a substrate. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for supporting and stabilizing implements, such as pencils, pens, crayons, charcoal, pastels, felt-tipped markers and brushes, so that a person using the apparatus may engage in activities such as printing, writing, coloring, sketching, drawing or painting.
Many people take for granted their ability to manually pick up an implement such as a pen and apply it to make a controlled mark. However, this simple task is difficult for or is beyond the ability of many people afflicted with a variety of problems, such as arthritis, cerebral palsy, stroke and many other skeletal, muscular, and central and peripheral nervous system problems. Such persons may not be able to execute the prehension patterns required to pick up and hold an object with their fingers. These people may be limited to using a gross grasp with all fingers flexed into the palm and may have limited ability to open the fisted hand. However, a narrow object, such as a writing or drawing implement, often can be grasped in the palm of the fisted hand if the implement is stabilized for the person in a steady, upright position.
Although a variety of different apparatus for supporting writing or drawing instruments have been developed, these apparatus may have disadvantages which are minimized or overcome by the apparatus of the present invention. For example, many devices designed for use by persons with prehension problems have the appearance of adaptive aids, thereby impacting the user's self-esteem. Further, many such devices must be strapped to the user's hand, usually by a therapist or some other person in a caretaking capacity. The user is therefore dependent on someone else to change the implement, such as when a different color of implement is desired. This curtailment of freedom may be particularly troublesome for persons, such as children, who may wish to frequently change implements, for example during a coloring session, and may impede development of a sense of freedom and independence important for people with physical disabilities.
Although a variety of devices exist which do not require strapping to the user's hand, many of these devices have other disadvantages which limit their utility by persons with severe prehension problems or make the devices otherwise undesirable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,628 discloses a writing instrument support stand which consists of an upstanding triangular support and a relatively narrow, horizontal base. A writing instrument such as a pen is attached to the hypotenuse of the triangle by means of bonding or clips on the hypotenuse so that the tip of the pen is in contact with a markable substrate such as paper. The person using the stand may grasp the stand in a pincer-type grasp by grasping the triangle between thumb and fingers or by encircling the stand with the thumb and one or more fingers.
Although the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,628 may be useful for people with some disabilities, this device may be difficult for the person with severe prehension problems to grasp. Further, the narrow base makes the device relatively unstable, so that the device is susceptible to being tipped over, such as by uncoordinated hand or arm movements, and may be difficult or impossible for the handicapped user to restore to an upright position.
Another device is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,906. This device consists of a broad, smooth base adapted to be pushed over the surface to be written on, and a writing instrument carrier attached to the base by a hinge. A spring holds the writing instrument a short distance away from the writing surface so that downward pressure from a hand on the instrument carrier causes the writing instrument to contact the surface to be written on.
Although this device may be useful for some people with some disabilities, the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,906 has several disadvantages. The broad base, which provides a modicum of stability, also takes up a substantial amount of room on the writing surface or page, so that simultaneously having several like devices on the writing surface as is desirable during activities such a coloring or other kinds of art work is impractical. Also, this device is limited to being used by sliding over the writing surface, rather than being picked up, and may be difficult or impossible for the person whose hand is spastic or chronically fisted to move and guide.
Other writing or drawing implement supports are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 258,254; 317,309; 724,687; 1,840,191; 2,362,992; 2,498,105; 4,037,975; and 4,111,566.
People who can not attain normal prehension patterns often also experience inability or difficulty in voluntarily releasing an object from the hand. This difficulty may be compounded by the fact that many known implement support devices are designed intentionally to be lightweight. However, many people with severe prehension problems are able to relax their hand only slightly to release an object. Therefore although lightness may be of an advantage to some disabled users, lightness may make it difficult or impossible for a user with severe prehension problems to voluntarily drop the device. Also, lightweight devices may exhibit an increased tendency to tip over, so that the disabled user is unable to release the device and independently pick it up again at a later time.
An implement support stand which maintains an implement in a stable, upright position so that a person having poor manual coordination or little or no grasping ability in his fingers may readily grasp and release the device and grasp the device again would therefore offer significant practical advantages over many support stands known in the art.